Coming off an undefeated season, the Carmel Padres’ football team had some pretty high expectations coming into the 2010 season.

Things didn’t look so great early on, as the Padres lost to 34-29 to Menlo School, the team that Carmel beat last year to secure a CCS championship. The Padres surrendered 243 rushing yards in the defeat, which was something that head coach Golden Anderson was concerned about heading into Mission Trail League play.

“We see a lot of that in our league,” Anderson said about Menlo’s rushing attack. Like most good teams do, however, the Padres learned quickly, and came back on Saturday with a resounding 51-14 win over a previously undefeated Monterey team.

Anderson remarked at the physicality of the Toreadores, who could never quite get their running game going. “Monterey is a big physical team with a lot of speed. It (was) great preparation for us as we head into our league schedule.”

Inside the Mission Trail League, Carmel’s biggest threat looks to be undefeated Greenfield, who host the Padres on Friday. The Bruins have played a soft non-league schedule but have flat out dominated, outscoring their three opponents 128-13.

Carmel’s other threat inside the league is Stevenson, a team that is coming off a big win over St. Francis Central Coast last Saturday.

The Pirates are led by senior running back Jeffrey Goodman, who has rushed for five touchdowns in Stevenson’s first three games this season.